Happy Cinco de Mayo DUers!

[lonestarnot]

Tequilas y Somberos para todos! rrrrrrrrrriba


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedy_Gonzales

[DoYouEverWonder]

1. I'm hoping we can turn today

into Cinco de Fritzo, if you get my drift?

[lonestarnot]

3. Oh what you say Cinco de Fritzo!

:toast:

[mmonk]

2. Si

Tequila.
Muy bien.

[lonestarnot]

4. DU necesita tildas para las palabras.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. People who drink strawberry Margaritas are impure and unworthy.

Just thought I'd mention it.

Oh, and the key to a great Margarita is to add a splash of amaretto.

[lonestarnot]

7. impure and unworthy! harsh....

The only flavor I don't like is turnip margaritas.

[Random_Australian]

6. I have no idea what you are talking about, but happy Cinco de Mayo to

you too!




What is it?

[lonestarnot]

8. love you Aussie!

[Random_Australian]

9. Love you back!

(It is spelt Aussie by the way, but I don't mind;))

:loveya:

I must say, DU is home to a lot of lovely people!

[lonestarnot]

10. spelling not my strong suit, I will edit.

:hug:

[lonestarnot]

11. 5th of May, some Mexican day for victory of Mexican soldiers over

French, 1862.

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. Cinco de Mayo celebrations. An explanation.

Cinco de Mayo is celebrated because it's the first time in the New World where a developing country fought successfully against an economic hitman. Basically, soon after declaring independence, Mexico was about to default on loans it had taken from three countries. Mexico asked for a two year moratorium, and only two countries gave it to them. The third, France, sent fleets to repossess land in payment of the debts. Mexico fought them off.

Cinco de Mayo is now a vacation holiday in the US, because it's the only non-gringo holiday that American conservatives would recognize for national celebration, because it involved fighting and beating the French. As long as we keep the Margaritas flowing and no one brings up the Alamo, we should be okay.

[lonestarnot]

15. Thanks for the information and I dated Daniel Boone! LOL

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. You know what I never understood about those Fess Parker Daniel

Boone shows?

There you had a brown haired daddy, married to a red-haired Becky. And their son was bleach blonde. That was some crazy gene pool.

[lonestarnot]

17. gene researchers and interesting breed, they're fishy!

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=35078

[The Backlash Cometh]

19. By the way, you really should read the history. It's an example of

"not everyone who shits on you is your enemy, and not everyone who pulls you out of a pile of shit is your friend."

Cinco de Mayo was a short-lived victory. France prevailed and later set up Maximillian as emperor of Mexico. The irony is that he was set up by the Conservative party of Mexico which:

"The Conservative party was formed by the Catholic Church, successful businessmen and merchants, and by great landowners. They wanted to preserve their privileges at all costs."

http://www.inside-mexico.com/featurecinco.htm

Maximillian, however, would have given Mexico the kind of democracy that we on these boards would have supported. However, he was later killed by Benito Juarez who regained power after Maximillian lost support from the Church because of his views, (which I believe we see as populist by today's standards).

So, we're basically celebrating on Cinco de Mayo, Mexico's first steps in setting up a government of Republicans.

[lonestarnot]

20. Oh shit! Guess I better bookmark and read. Thanks.

[lonestarnot]

21. FUCK CINCO DE MAYO!

The Conservative party was formed by the Catholic Church, successful businessmen and merchants, and by great landowners. They wanted to preserve their privileges at all costs.

[lonestarnot]

22. FUCK CINCO DE MAYO!

FUCK CINCO DE MAYO!
The Conservative party was formed by the Catholic Church, successful businessmen and merchants, and by great landowners. They wanted to preserve their privileges at all costs.

[The Backlash Cometh]

23. Oh, God. What have I started.

There I was one morning, minding my own bidness...

[lonestarnot]

24. crack me up!

[lonestarnot]

25. what do you think of these from leftbooks.com

Cinco de Mayo
and the fight for independence


Today is Cinco de Mayo. And, for all of you who believe this day
celebrates Mexican independence we suggest you read from a most
comprehensive book about Mexico's proud history fighting colonialism and
imperialism, including the battle referred to as Cinco de Mayo. As John
Ross put it, "this books should really be named Mexico's fight against
annexation."

And, of course you'll get FREE SHIPPING!!* for all orders of at least $50!



The Annexation of Mexico:
From the Aztecs to the I.M.F.
By John Ross

*The Annexation of Mexico: From the Aztecs to the I.M.F., by John Ross
<http://www.leftbooks.com>

*
"With different flags they came to conquer us...they came and they went
and we kept on being Mexicans because the only flag we want to walk
around under has an eagle devouring a snake on it..."
/Subcomandante Marcos, March 1995/

John Ross is "the new John Reed covering a new Mexican revolution."
/Blanche Petrich of La Jornada /

"Vivid and powerful."
/Howard Zinn /

From a 1995 winner of the American Book Award (Rebellion From the
Roots: Indian Uprising in Chiapas) comes a rip-roaring review of
Mexico's 500-year resistance to annexation.

The Annexation of Mexico also picks its way through contemporary mine
fields: the Reagan administration's little-known offer to buy Baja
California for $105 billion; the peso collapse and Clinton's bail-out of
U.S. investors; and the pungent corruption in Mexico's anti-drug hierarchy.

*
*
*Speaking of Cinco de Mayo and colonial French military defeats...*

*Haiti
A Slave Revolution
Haiti: A Slave Revolution <http://www.leftbooks.com>
*

The Haitian Revolution is a singular event in history. Never before or
since has an enslaved people risen up, broken their chains, and
established a new state. Haiti was a beacon of hope and inspiration to
the enslaved Africans of the United States.

Haiti's history has been turbulent, but not for the reasons given by
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black republic lacks "democratic traditions" and is prone to violence.

Drawing from a wide range of authors, experts, and historical texts,
this book challenges these stereotypes and counters 200 years of
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Authors include: Mumia Abu-Jamal, Ramsey Clark, Pat Chin, Edwidge
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Stan Goff, Kim Ives, Fleurimond Kerns, Paul Laraque, Maud LeBlanc, Sam
Marcy, Franz Mendes & Steve Gillis, Felix Morriseau-Leroy and Johnnie
Stevens.

*
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A History of Latinos in America
*by Juan Gonzalez*

Harvest of Empire - A History of Latinos in America, by Juan Gonzalez
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*

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Latino migration, domination and colonization, and historical lessons
not found in many American textbooks." --/San Antonio Express-News

/"Gonzalez's ever-enjoyable prose grabs the reader and fills in the gaps
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Spanning five hundred years--from the first New World colonies to the
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sketches of the political events and social conditions that compelled
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A sweeping narrative of the triumphs and tragedies of the Latin@
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2001, paperback, index, bibliography, 235pp


*Disposable Domestics: Immigrant Women Workers
in the Global Economy
**By Grace Chang

Disposable Domestics: Immigrant Women Workers in the Global Economy, by
Grace Chang <http://www.leftbooks.com>
*

Illegal. Unamerican. Disposable. In a nation with an unprecedented
history of immigration, the prevailing image of those who cross our
borders in search of equal opportunity--in particular women of color of
childbearing age--is that of a drain on society. Grace Chang's vital
account of immigrant women's experiences proves just the opposite: that
the women who perform our least desirable jobs--as nannies, domestic
workers, janitors, nursing aides, and homecare workers--are the most
crucial to our economy and society. Yet, Chang also shows, as frequently
undocumented and therefore disenfranchised, they are the most vulnerable
and exploited.

Chang dismantles recent arguments in favor of curbing immigration and
eliminating access to education, health care, and welfare, piercing the
rhetoric to reveal the racism and misogyny underneath. She unravels the
twisted history of U.S. immigration policy and its role in drawing
much-needed workers to the "land of opportunity" and then discarding
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*
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*
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The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya
*By Caroline Elkins*

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*/
Fifty years ago British colonialism tried to crush the independence
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The product of ten years of research,/Imperial Reckoning/ vividly
describes how as many as 320,000 Mau Mau suspects were tortured in
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Harrowing accounts of life behind the barb wire are given by
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Elkins, a Harvard history professor, along with Kenya archivist
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Historical photos, Notes, Bibliography and Index

Henry Holt, 2005, Softcover, 367pp


*Che Guevara
and the Latin American Revolution
by Manuel "Barbarroja" Piñeiro
Che Guevarra and the Latin American Revolution <http://www.leftbooks.com>
*
/*"To try to reduce Che to a mere cultural symbol is a vulgar
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wherever there is a man or woman willing to dedicate his or her energy,
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solidarity."*/*--Manuel "Barbarroja" Piñeiro*

Manuel Piñeiro known as "Barbarroja," or "Red Beard," was a figure of
great mystery for decades. As head of the Cuban Communist Party's
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liberation movements on every continent, especially Latin America and
Africa. In this work, he closely collaborated with Che Guevara on the
missions to the Congo and Bolivia.

This book includes many extraordinary new revelations about Cuba's role
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leftbooks.com

Contact us at:
[e-mail]

[The Backlash Cometh]

27. Whoa! More literature than I can handle.

I'll just sum it up that Juarez should have put his pride aside and worked with Maxmillian. They had a common goal and Maxmillian was willing to give Juarez the position of Prime Minister. But Juarez fought him every step of the way, even refusing to give Maximillian a stay of execution. Juarez was rewarded by dying of a heart attack before he had a chance to impliment social change and allowed the rule of Porfirio Díaz, which seems to bring in an era of exploitation, and later, revolution.

Here's a para on Porti from Wikipedia: "He maintained power through manipulation of votes, but also through simple violence and assassination of his opponents, which consequently were small in number. He was a cunning politician and knew very well how to manipulate people to his advantage. A phrase used to describe the order of his rule was "Pan, o palo" ("Bread, or the stick"), meaning that one could either accept what was willing to be given, or face harsh consequences"

[lonestarnot]

28. Thanks Backlashcometh!

[Bridget Burke]

26. Sorry, but you got it wrong. Juarez was a Liberal ...

And a full-blooded Zapotec. He was NOT a member of the Conservative party.

Juárez became a lawyer in 1834 and a judge in 1842. He was governor of the state of Oaxaca from 1847 to 1853, at which time he went into exile because of his objections to the corrupt military dictatorship of Antonio López de Santa Anna. He spent his exile in New Orleans, Louisiana, working in a cigar factory. In 1854 he helped draft the Plan of Ayutla as the basis for a liberal revolution in Mexico.

Faced with growing opposition, Santa Anna resigned in 1855 and Juárez returned to Mexico. The liberales (liberals) formed a provisional government under Juan Ruiz de Álvarez, inaugurating the period known as La Reforma. The Reform laws sponsored by the puro(pure) wing of the Liberal Party curtailed the power of the Catholic church and the military, while trying to create a modern civil society and capitalist economy on the North American model. The Ley Juárez(Juarez´s Law) of 1855, for example, abolished special clerical and military privileges, and declared all citizens equal before the law. In 1857 the liberals promulgated a new federalist constitution. Juárez became Chief Justice and Vice-President of Mexico, under moderado(moderate) president Ignacio Comonfort.

The conservadores(conservatives) led by General Félix Zuloaga, with the backing of the military and the clergy, launched a revolt under the Plan of Tacubaya in December 1857. Juárez was arrested, but escaped to lead the liberal side in the Mexican War of the Reform, first from Querétaro and later from Veracruz. In 1859, Juárez took the radical step of declaring the confiscation of church properties. In spite of the conservatives' initial military advantage, the liberals, drawing on support of regionalist forces, turned the tide in 1860 and recaptured Mexico City in January 1861. Juárez was elected President in March for a four-year term under the Constitution of 1857....

Juárez led the Mexican opposition to the French intervention and the imposition of Maximilian of Habsburg as "Emperor of Mexico" in 1864. Maximilian, who personally harboured liberal and Mexican nationalist sympathies, offered Juárez amnesty, and later the post of prime minister, but Juárez refused to accept either a monarchy or a government imposed by foreigners. With its own civil war over, the United States invoked the Monroe Doctrine and made overtures that it might invade Mexico to restore local rule. Faced with this and a growing threat from Prussia, the French troops began pulling out of Mexico in late 1866. Mexican conservatism was a spent force and was less than pleased with the liberal Maximilian. In 1867 the last of the Emperor's forces were defeated and Maximilian was sentenced to death for treason by a military court. Despite international pleas for amnesty, Juárez refused to commute the sentence, and Maximilian was executed by firing squad on June 19, his body was returned to Europe for burial.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Juarez

The well-meaning but dimwitted Maximilian refused to leave Mexico even after Napoleon III abandoned him. Somehow, I don't think a foreign Emperor would have produced a Democratic Mexico.

[The Backlash Cometh]

29. You're absolutely right about Juarez not being conservative.

I corrected it. But, Maxmillian did seem to have the right politics. The same as Juarez. Hindsight is 20/20, but it sure doesn't look like Juarez accomplished much of anything.

I'm not surprised that Maximillian may have bonded with the country. The same thing happened to the early English who settled in Ireland. They were said to be more Irish than the Irish. Then England created laws that made sure they would never mix. The Articles of Plantation, I believe they were called. Someone feel free to correct me.

[Bridget Burke]

32. But Maximilian was a Hapsburg--made "Emperor" by Napoleon III.

He looked well on horseback & took a Mexican mistress. But a dimwitted Austrian Emperor would not have been a good ruler for a "Democratic" country. Who would have succeeded him?

Indeed, the Anglo-Normans who conquered parts of Ireland married into the Irish ruling "classes"--they were all Catholic & the Irish were also known to do battle. The de Burghs became Burkes & began speaking Irish. The Elizabethan "Plantation" brought loyal Protestant Englishmen to pacify the island; the Irish knew them as the "New English." The "Old English" remained loyal to England but also remained Catholic. Eventually, they did side with the Irish against England.

Cromwell sorted everything out by religion. Cunning plan: Let's send some stalwart Scots Nonconformists to civilize wild Ulster!

[The Backlash Cometh]

33. Certainly I'm not versed on Maxmillian's personality profile,

but if you take the old Ulster English as an example, I think Maxmillian felt he had no where else to go. He must have known without France, there would be no continuation of the Emperor position. I think he was looking for an honorable transition, and Juarez just wouldn't give it to him. Also keep in mind that at this time, there was no solid middle class in Mexico, nor any convincing example in the world of a continual transition of power through democracy. America was still a relatively young country by European standards. (Still is.)

Whatever the reason, the strife between the two didn't really help the country in the long-run. They could have accomplished more through cooperation. But that certainly is easy for me to say from where I type.

[Bridget Burke]

34. Maximilian had been brought to power by raw imperialism.

Would you accept an Emperor installed by a foreign invader?

[The Backlash Cometh]

35. In the grand scheme of things, I don't believe that ten more years

of Maxmillian would have been a bad thing if he indeed was making overtures to Juarez. The big question I have is why didn't France work on such a transition before they left?

Well. The one thing we can say without question, is that Mexico STILL has screwed up leadership.

[Bridget Burke]

36. France didn't give a fuck about Mexico or Maximilian...

They pulled out their military so they could fight Prussia. And they abandoned Maximilian.

To the dismay of his conservative allies, Maximilian upheld several liberal policies proposed by the Juárez administration – such as land reforms, religious freedoms, and extending the right to vote beyond the landholding class. At first Maximilian offered Juárez an amnesty if he would swear allegiance to the crown, which Juárez refused. Later Maximilian ordered all captured followers of Juárez to be shot: a tactical mistake that only exacerbated opposition to his regime.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_of_Habsburg

Why should Juarez have sworn allegiance to a Hapsburg prince?

Mexico's leaders have certainly varied widely in quality--there HAVE been some good ones. However--please consider Our President.

[The Backlash Cometh]

38. I guess we'll never know if it would have made a difference.

Mexico won its independence, and its people are leaving in droves. Somehow, I don't really get the impression that they're enjoying the full promise of democracy.

[Bridget Burke]

41. It's one of those "alternate history" questions....

There are still quite a few Mexicans left in Mexico. And they are still trying to improve things.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador has a fair chance of being elected President this summer. He's got some interesting ideas. The Wikipedia article is marked "Controversial"--but it's a starting place.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obrador

And here's a more recent article. www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/nation/14508427.htm

From the Tucta swamp come many clues to why Lopez Obrador is embraced in Mexico for his vow to put the poor before the privileged, but also why he is loathed by others who fear he could endanger Mexico's free-market economic progress and aggravate relations with the United States.

Until last month, Lopez Obrador held a sizeable lead over Felipe Calderon of Fox's conservative National Action Party and Roberto Madrazo of the former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. But Calderon appears to have caught up as his television attack ads have likened Lopez Obrador to Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's controversial leftist leader.

Also hurting Lopez Obrador was his own recent tongue-lashing of Fox, whom he told to shut up in a speech after comparing him to a chattering bird.

Lopez Obrador quickly retreated from the remarks, blaming them on the blunt folksiness that is as typical of tropical Tabasco as is his accent and peculiar turns of phrase. His nickname is "Peje," after a razor-toothed, lizardlike fish from Tabasco that reputedly is difficult to hook.

[dusty64]

13. Same to you.

I'm having a taco and Corona party this evening, should be fun.... Our Friday happy hours have helped me to get through these last few looooooooooooooong years and keep as sane as possible.

[lonestarnot]

14. Yeaya! Hope it is a fun filled fiesta. My cat and I have the day off!

Whoooodamnwhooooo!

[lonestarnot]

18. Speedy Gonzales! My cat is speedy this a.m. just poked a hole in my

skin! Rascal with claws!

[EFerrari]

30. Weren't the freeps going to boycott el Cinco?

If you see a freep today, see if he's humming La Marseillaise.

:rofl:

[MazeRat7]

40. Why... thats the day the Mexicans kicked some serious French ass ?

I thought the repuks hated all things French ? Just asking.
You they might get some credibility if they would actually READ history.... *gezzzzzz


MZr7

[hamerfan]

31. And to you, my friend

Got some seafood enchiladas going, but will have to pass on the tequila. Wondering what the anti-immigrationistas will be doing today.
dumpbush

[Cruzan]

37. I'll call your Speedy Gonzales and raise you a Frito Bandito

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frito_Bandito

[MazeRat7]

39. Viva el General Zaragosa !!! (He was from Texas ya know *wink)

[dogday]

42. I bet they are celebrating in San Antonio Today

I used to live there and they have a wonderful festival every year.. It is great....

[LiviaOlivia]

43. kick